Jim Dickson

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The funds should be accessible to those young people, and hitherto they have not been. When the money is available, it can help that young person with a start in life and give them the financial means to better themselves at a crucial time. That is a critical measure in the Bill. Credit unions are also critical to inclusion and to this Bill. The legislation contains some important reforms to help us modernise the sector. I was pleased to visit Wave Community Bank over the summer. Along with Greenwich and Bexley Credit Union, it plays a vital role in supporting residents in Dartford to access affordable credit in times of acute financial stress. Awareness of credit unions remains far too low, and these changes are welcome to ensure that more Dartford residents can join them. We know that 37,000 people across my constituency—almost half the adult population—are in financially vulnerable circumstances. Many people have limited savings and a life event, such as a job loss or a break-up, will leave them in a particularly dire situation. That is where credit unions, as we know, can play a vital role. Earlier this year, the Government published the outcome of their call for evidence on reform of the common bond, which included proposals welcomed by the Association of British Credit Unions and Fair4All Finance to widen access to membership. Some of the measures announced in the Bill, including steps to allow students studying locally to join or those retired to maintain their access, are incredibly welcome. I understand that the measures to increase the potential membership cap of the common bond will come a bit later through secondary legislation, but I welcome indications from the Government that the cap is likely to be raised to cover a population of as much as 10 million, from the current 3 million. Taken alongside the very welcome credit union transformation fund, which is there to build operational resilience in the sector, I hope the measures will see a long-term, sizeable increase in membership of credit unions across the country and particularly in my constituency, and see the Government deliver an important part of their financial inclusion strategy. Finally, I join others in expressing concern that the changes to the operation of the Financial Ombudsman Service in clause 6—and in particular the need to refer significant volumes of cases to the FCA—will “gum up the system”, in the words of senior figures in that organisation. This means that consumers may wait longer for less favourable outcomes, which is surely something that Members should not welcome. I am also concerned, alongside others, about the changes to, or indeed the weakening of, the fair and reasonable test in clause 7, as applied to future complaints. Again, this may well reduce the rights of consumers through the process. I hope that when the Minister responds, she will deal with the points made by myself and others about concerns that are clearly important to us all in an otherwise hugely welcome Bill.